Water woes have drained the Village of Montrose, both literally and financially.
The Village of Montrose has spent more than $150,000 on materials, contractors and surveys and the cost is expected to grow.
“We’ve blown the budget,” said Mayor Joe Danchuk in a Tuesday night council meeting.
The Village of Montrose didn’t have a budget prepared for an accident of this stature, and the money that is being used is pulled out of the water reserve account and it could come from any savings that the village might have had.
“We’re probably going to have to amend our financial plan at some stage,” said the chief administrative officer Kevin Chartres.
There were no provincial emergency funds available to the village and several new costs may be added to the bill, including an estimated cost of roughly $200 each day for water from Beaver Falls to support the community of Montrose and additional costs could be incurred to upgrade the water supply to prevent future water pipe failures.
“The cost is going to change by the minute,” said Chartres.
So far, the estimated cost of this project is currently expected to be as much as $275,000.
The village also had permitting problems with the Ministry of Energy and Mines because it was using fill from non-permitted sites.
After being misinformed about the regulations by one of the project partners, the village has corrected the error by retrieving fill from a pit near Waneta.
Last Saturday roughly 130 loads were hauled by Teck trucks at a cost of $25,000 and more than 75 loads are still expected.
A disinfection process began on Wednesday, and the crew will perform a pressure test on the new pipe as early as today.
“We’re ahead of schedule,” said Chartres.
The village has 22 days of anticipated work ahead of them, but it’s optimistic about finishing the project before June 9.
Beaver Falls and Montrose are still on Stage 3 water restrictions after a break in the water lines destroyed 10,000m3 of property on May 3. The breakage is related to a problem with the welding on the valves, it appears to be a mechanical problem and three valves are being replaced.
